Canalys today published its final Q4 2010 global country-level smart phone market data, which revealed that Google's Android has become the leading platform. Shipments of Android-based smart phones reached 32.9 million, while devices running Nokia's Symbian platform trailed slightly at 31.0 million worldwide. But Nokia did retain its position as the leading global smart phone vendor, with a share of 28%. The fourth quarter also saw the worldwide smart phone market continue to soar, with shipments of 101.2 million units representing year-on-year growth of 89%. The final quarter took shipments for the year to fractionally below 300 million units, with an annual growth rate of 80% over 2009 (see table below).

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The US landscape will shift dramatically this coming year, as a result of the Verizon-Apple agreement,' said Canalys Analyst Tim Shepherd. 'Verizon will move its focus away from the Droid range, but the overall market impact will mean less carrier-exclusive deals, while increasing the AT&T opportunity for Android vendors, such as HTC, Motorola and Samsung.' Android was by far the largest smart phone platform in the US market in Q4 2010, with shipments of 12.1 million units – nearly three times those of RIM's BlackBerry devices. Windows Phone 7 devices appeared too late in the quarter to take full advantage of holiday season purchasing. As a result, Microsoft lost share in the United States, from 8% in Q4 2009 to 5% in Q4 2010.

RIM's BlackBerry range is the most successful smartphone platform of 2010 in the UK, according to data by GfK.

Using data exclusively from consumers sales channels (ie the networks and consumer electronics stores), the research concluded that not only did BlackBerry handsets command 28.2% of all smartphone sales in 2010, RIM also managed to gain 36% of the Christmas sales, with over 500,000 shifted.
RIM is bragging about its performance over the busy Christmas month, with nearly one in two pre-pay handsets being a BlackBerry, and nearly one in four contracts the same, with the likes of the BlackBerry Curve 8520 and new BlackBerry Torch proving enticing to customers.

Hot on the heels of Samsung admitting that it had exaggerated sales of its Android tablet to consumers, it is becoming clear that Google's Android platform definition is being stretched to include Chinese rivals, including China Mobile's Ophone and Tapas OS, a project run by the former president of Google China.

China Mobile's OMS is therefore not only "not Google," its also incompatible with Android apps, and apparently more compatible with Windows Mobile. A report by an Asian technology newsletter said China Mobile issues its own SDK for OMS, and boasts around 600 apps for the OPhone. The company claims 430,000 developers for its platform. It invites Android developers to create apps for OMS, but the two are not the same platform in any meaningful sense.

A parallel effort, named Tapas OS, is also derived from Android but similarly does nothing to benefit Google or other users of the Android platform. Launched by Kai-** Lee, the former president of Google China, Tapas is also modified to support Chinese social networks, ebooks, video sites, search and other services that are not connected to Google.

Calling Tapas a version of Android is like calling Baidu a version of Google or Youko a version of YouTube. Like OMS, Tapas is an Android competitor. Speaking of Chinese efforts to replicate Western technologies, Lee said in a Wall Street Journal profile, "American companies often have a technology lead, as Google did. However Baidu evolved and became good enough."

That suggests most the growth in "Android" numbers is coming from no-name vendors selling devices in countries such as China, using devices that don't support Google's development of the OS (via ads or search services) nor even expand the platform in any meaningful way that could benefit Android users.

Samsung, the most noteworthy Android smartphone developer and the only licensee to ship an well known Android tablet, just reported its weakest profits in six quarters, and was hit by reports that it had overstated the sales of its Galaxy Tab to consumers.

LG, another large Android licensee, recently noted that carriers have complained that the company's portfolio of phones delivered "too much Android."